Vitra Schaudepot

Weil am Rhein, Germany | Herzog & de Meuron | 2016

The Vitra Design Museum contains over 20,000 objects in its collection. In the most recent campus addition by Herzog & de Meuron, the Schaudepot which translates to “exhibition depot,” displays around 400 important furniture pieces in the main exhibition hall. The interior palette remains neutral with its blank white walls and fluorescent strip lights. The chairs are organized chronologically and densely displayed on industrial shelving racks. With limited text descriptions, the visitor must rely on the Vitra app to learn more about each piece.

From the main exhibition hall, there’s a large portal overlooking the lower level’s Schaudepot Lab. In this “behind the scenes” area, the double height exhibition space has several floor to ceiling windows that look into the museum’s collection depots: Lighting, Italian and Scandinavian Design and the Estate of Charles and Ray Eames.